The Little Theatre will host Storm Before the Calm by Rama Vaidyanathan & Ensemble and Churning- Within and Around by Shama Bhate & Nadroop on April 22nd at 6.30pm…reports Asian Lite News
Mudra is the NCPA’s only thematic dance festival, held each year around International Dance Day. Mudra has previously been curated on topics such as motherhood, colours, bhakti poetry, animal movements, and so on. This year, it delves into a very different theme: churning within and around. History has seen many upheavals, including the Partition, natural disasters, and pandemics.
What exactly is poison? What exactly is amrit? And what have we gained as a result of our efforts? This festival focuses on dance performances that feature these lessons that have made us stronger and wiser over time. Performances, lecture-demonstrations, and more on the Samudra Manthan, as well as recent churnings.
The Little Theatre will host Storm Before the Calm by Rama Vaidyanathan & Ensemble and Churning- Within and Around by Shama Bhate & Nadroop on April 22nd at 6.30pm.
Darshana Jhaveri, Shama Bhate, Sandhya Purecha, and Mandakini Trivedi will give a lecture demonstration on ‘Transformations in Your Form Since Independence’ on April 24th. This will be followed by the launch of Shama Bhate’s book on Mohanrao Kallianpurkar. The event is scheduled for April 24th at 11 a.m. at Little Theatre. Chaya Mukhi, a Mohiniyattam performance by Gopika Varma, Nrityaganga – Innovation birthed from the Churning of Tradition by Sucheta Chapekar, and Kalavardhini Dance Company will take place at 5 p.m. in the evening.
On the final day, April 30th, 2022, Bimbavati Devi and Manipuri Nartanalaya will perform ‘Footprints in Blood,’ followed by Subhajit Khush Das performing ‘Manasa.’ Last but not least, Sreelakshmy Govardhanan will perform Kuchipudi from 6.30pm onwards.
200 Years of Indian Art closes with a more recent work by Madhvi Parekh, a large canvas that brings back the focus on iconography but with a difference: a Christian theme, familiar through Renaissance depictions, comes ‘home’ in a naive style derived from Indian folk art…reports Asian Lite News
DAG has put together a selection of artworks highlighting the unrivalled richness and breadth of its collection of modern Indian art, ranging across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for the thirteenth edition of India Art Fair to be held in New Delhi from April 28 – May 1.
Titled Masterpieces: 200 Years of Indian Art and curated by Dr. Giles Tillotson, Senior VP – Exhibitions and Publications at DAG, the exhibition features works dating from a period when artists grappled to combine traditional themes with new materials and conventions.
Landscape of Shiva by Manu Parekh
Beginning with an exceptionally fine and detailed Early Bengal oil painting depicting Krishna Lila, and a group of unusually large-format Kalighat paintings, the focus on iconography continues in early twentieth century works with paintings by M. V. Dhurandhar, Nandalal Bose and M. A. R. Chughtai. Radically new configurations including the rise of abstraction are found in mid-century works by Khagen Roy, K. K. Hebbar, Rameshwar Broota, M. F. Husain, S. H. Raza, Shanti Dave, and a large sculpture by Dhanraj Bhagat.
Though highly individual in approach, these artists share a common exploration of the border between the figural and the abstract. Laying the way for an even greater diversity in the late twentieth century are paintings by Bikash Bhattacharjee, G. R. Santosh, Rabin Mondal, Manu Parekh, and Prabhakar Barwe, and a sculpture by Amar Nath Sehgal – varying the personal inner visions of these artists from the tantric to the surreal.
Masterpieces: 200 Years of Indian Art closes with a more recent work by Madhvi Parekh, a large canvas that brings back the focus on iconography but with a difference: a Christian theme, familiar through Renaissance depictions, comes ‘home’ in a naive style derived from Indian folk art.
Vaishali said that initially she told the women about how to make organic and natural fibre products…reports Manoj Pathak
From waste to work of art…Fabrics, accessories made from banana trunk fibre are going global, thanks to hard work of 34-year-old Vaishali Priya.
Vaishali Priya, hailing from Bihar’s Vaishali district, is also teaching women the skills needed for the business, thus making them Aatmanirbhar.
Generally, after harvesting bananas, the trunk is cut, but Priya is not only extracting fibre from the waste trunk to make clothes but also making Yoga and table mats, baskets, among others.
The products made are being exported to the US too.
Vaishali, who has done fashion designing and used to work in an export factory where she learnt about making things of use from the banana fabric.
After that, she left the job, came back to her village and started working on making fabrics from the banana fibre.
Vaishali said she grew up watching people cultivating bananas. Earlier, the banana trunk used to be cut and thrown away, but now it is being used to make fabric, she said.
Vaishali said that initially she told the women about how to make organic and natural fibre products.
She said that she is being helped by the local Krishi Vigyan Kendra in the project.
Initially, Vaishali started her business with 30 women of Hariharpur village.
“When I began this business, I faced difficulties and criticism from many quarters, but today, seeing the dividends earned by me, more people are now associating with me,” Vaishali told.
Here, the women are told about the specifics of soaking, weaving and processing clothes.
Vaishali said that women from the comfort of their homes make ropes from the fibre and earn Rs 300-500 per day.
She said that she gets orders from various places and the people are appreciating her products.
Though right now products are yet to gain huge popularity, those who use them appreciate the effort and use, she claimed.
She said that for making better quality clothes, better techniques are now being used. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Hariharpur has provided the women working on the project with machines.
The exhibition re-evaluates the audiovisual material that the filmmakers have gathered over the years, including Lhamo Tsering’s personal archives, and presents a re-edited version of their 1998 documentary…reports Asian Lite News
Little is still known of the guerrilla war that was fought from the mid-1950s to 1974 when thousands of Tibetans took up arms against the invading forces of China.
Filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam change that with their exhibition ‘Shadow Circus: A Personal archive of Tibetan Resistance’ that opened on April 21 ( till May 1) at the India International Centre in the national capital.
Going back; a movement that spontaneously erupted in Tibet became entangled in global geopolitics when the CIA got involved in 1956.
Code-named STCIRCUS, it was one of the CIA’s longest running covert operations until it was abruptly abandoned in the late 60s.
The resistance collapsed in 1974 when its last stronghold on the Nepal-Tibet border was shut down by the Nepalese army. For reasons that have to do with both the covert nature of this operation and the fact that Tibet’s armed struggle sits uncomfortably with contemporary narratives of the non-violent nature of the movement, this episode has languished in the forgotten corners of recent Tibetan history.
Sarin and Sonam have researched this story for several years, inspired by Tenzing’s late father, Lhamo Tsering, one of the leaders of the resistance and the key liaison between it and the CIA. Serving as Chief of Operations, he oversaw the activities of the resistance and at the same time, maintained an incredibly detailed archive of photographs, documents, letters and maps.
The exhibition re-evaluates the audiovisual material that the filmmakers have gathered over the years, including Lhamo Tsering’s personal archives, and presents a re-edited version of their 1998 documentary — ‘The Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet’ — to create a more complete and complex mosaic of this still largely obscure story.
The Cold war epoch is navigated within a third space, as an uneasy alliance beyond geopolitical power blocs and bilateral relations to examine forms of intelligence gathering, guerrilla warfare and clandestine resistance in Tibet, that continues to resonate today as part of an unfinished project of freedom.
The filmmakers foreground the subjective position of an intermediary between the CIA and members of the resistance — Lhamo Tsering — wherein individual aspirations and national interests fail to provide a symmetrical historic trajectory.
The unresolved nature of the militant image and its ethics of circulation became a potent focus of inquiry during this pivotal time in Tibet’s armed liberation movement and international alliance building that included one of the most networked intelligence agencies in the world, with its ultimate betrayal as the final act.
The inaugural version of the exhibition was curated by Natasha Ginwala and Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung with assistant curator Krisztina Hunya. It was co-produced by and exhibited at SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin from February 7 to March 10, 2019, within the programme of the 14th Forum Expanded, 69th Berlinale. This is the first time it is on view in India.
The stories aim to promote creativity, social skills and good values in young readers…reports Asian Lite News
To promote a love for books and shared reading on the occasion of World Book Day, Kalimat Publishing an affiliate of Kalimat Group, has chosen a selection of four stories that stress on good values and unleash creativity in children, through inspiring characters and positive messages that will assist them in their everyday lives.
The Boy at the Back of the Class
Author Onjali Q. Rauf tells the story of Ahmed, a nine-year-old boy who fled with his family from war-torn Syria. Ahmed got separated from his parents during the long and arduous journey, and ends up in England, where he attends school and is placed under an Englishwoman’s care. He can barely speak English, which results in learning difficulties at school. Four of his classmates make and execute plans to share his story to the press and find his parents, a gesture that bags them an invitation to have tea with the Queen of England.
Where does the Sy End?
Suited for children in the 6–9-year age group, the story written by Jikar Khorshid and illustrated by Alessandra Santelli follows the journey of a child trying to find the answer to the question ‘Where does the sky end?’ During his journey, he meets a whale, an eagle, a lion and a camel. They all knew where their sky ended, but the child discovers that his sky is limitless. The story nurtures children’s imagination and brings them closer to the elements of nature.
Koronfola (Petunia)
Young Koronfola comes across some flowers while on a walk. She smells them and begins to sneeze; but weirder is the fact that it makes her lose the lines on her body. Koronfola tries in vain to solve the problem and worries if her friends will recognise her without the lines. This lovely story written and illustrated by Daniela Lopez Casenave teaches children that any change in one’s shape, regardless of its cause, should not affect relationships with others.
And so, the Puppets Moved
Author Amal Naser tells the story of a lonely man living in a crowded city alley. A shoe shiner by profession, he collects scrap as a hobby. He dreams of making puppets that do not resemble the toys found in shops. One day, a little girl come to his store, and gives him a unique idea that helps him to create puppets that move like magic and flood theatres around the world. Debora Guidi illustrated this story, which is suitable for children aged 9 – 12 years.
Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, witnessed the launch of Big Screen Awards to celebrate the style and substance of Malayalam cinema
Kerala witnessed the arrival of a big event after Covid-19 curtailed gatherings for a long time. The Big Screen Awards 2022, under the leadership of Yousaf Lensman, assembled the galaxy of stars from the Malayalam film industry.
Director Ranjith, Chairman of the Film Academy, inaugurated the award night. Biju Menon, Tovino Thomas, Unni Mukundan, Darshana, Suraj Venjaramood, Shine Tom Chacko, Shanker Ramakrishnan, Kalesh Ramanandan, Moor, Sudheesh, Irshad, Johny Antony, Ramesh Pisharady, Malavika, Gowri Nanda, Kottayam Ramesh and ‘Minnal Murali’ fame Guru Somasundaram were present.
Big Screen Awards 2022 page 1A
Somasundaram revealed that this was his first award night function and the audience welcomed him with wild applause when he delivered a few punch dialogues from the movie ‘Minnal Murali’.
Actress Darshana, who won the award for best actress, sang the title song ‘Darshana’ along with music director Hesham. Music director Shan Rahman sang ‘Uyire’ from ‘Minnal Murali’ along with Mithun Jayaraj and Narayani Gopan.
Praseetha Chalakkudi, who bagged the ‘Voice of the Year’ award, mesmerized the audience. The audience were also entertained with some mega-hit songs. Gopi Sundar, Alphonse Joseph, Shaan Rahman, Kailas Menon, Hesham Abdul Wahab, Haricharan, KS Harishankar, Kaithapram, BK Harinarayanan, Anwar Ali, Sujatha Mohan also attended the event.
When Thrissur Collector Haritha V Nair came on stage to present an award to her favourite singer Sujatha Mohan, she requested her to sing some lines. Sujatha Mohan obliged with ‘Oru Murai Vanthu Parthaya’ from ‘Manichithrathazhu’.
Big Screen Awards 2022 page 2
Under the leadership of Lensman, the event was produced by Nash Varghese Kuwait with the support of administration head Razal Doha.
Big Screen Awards were organised by Lensman Entertainments in association with FEMA (Federation of Event Management Association) and Janish Oscar Events. Kalyan Silks, ICL Fincorp, Evo Thamesbae, Aqua Star, Max Value, Wedding Village, Shafeenaz, Matsapp, Heyniz, Somewhere Nice, IAN Institute, NTC, Fashion Bay, Joy Palace Hotel, Royal Restaurant, Institute of Event Management Kerala and Asian Lite Media Group/London Daily Digital were the sponsors.
Some unforgettable performances were made by Dif-Freque band’s magical fusion music. Singers including Afsal Ismail, Vaishnav Gireesh, Mithun Jayaraj, Akbar Khan, Ayraan, Akhila Anand, Nithya Mammen, Sreenanda, Meril Ann Mathew, Fawas performed at the event.
Shahbas Aman who won the best singer award also recreated his song ‘Aakashamayavale.’
Big Screen Awards 2022 page 3
A festival mood was created when Nanchiyamma from Attappady who rose to fame came with her hit song from the movie ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’. The mood turned somber when Nanchiyamma fondly remembered director Sachi who died just after the movie’s release.
Suraj Venjaramoodu and Ramesh Pisharody made the audience burst into laughter as usual with their performance.
The opening act directed by Yousaf Lensman captured the historic moments of Malayalam film industry was a visual treat. The award night was creatively supported by N V Ajith and his team. Dance choreography was done by Serenas. Actor Gayathri Suresh and Sijo Rose performed dances. A dance performance by the male dance group D-Solve containing Cinema spoof dances drew applause.
Directors Ranjith and Sidhique wished well for Yousaf Lensman and his new venture Big Screen Awards. Directors Anoop Sathyan, Rasheed Parakkal, Rohit (Kala), Chidambaram (Operation Java) and PRO AS Dinesh were among the awardees.
KT 2077 was led by artistic director Cosmin Costinas (from Para Site, Hong Kong) and Kathmandu based co-curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung…writes Sukant Deepak
‘A Woman Was Harassed Here’ — if you were in Mumbai a few years back, it was not uncommon to encounter a bright pink poster with this line at different public spaces. These were the places where artist Aqui Thami or someone she knew had faced harassment. This was also part of the recently concluded Kathmandu Triennale 2077 (KT 2077).
“The project essentially emerged from my desire to mark these spaces to build community, call attention to the harassment women face and most importantly reclaim my power from these spaces where I was rendered powerless. There has been much love shared majorly by women and immediate participation and exchange. Of course, we have also witnessed some hostility from the authorities and people who do not want women to talk back,” this indigenous artist based in Mumbai tells.
Member of ‘Bombay Underground’, a collective that experiments with diverse public art practices, the artist, who runs the ‘Dharavi Art Room’ and started the ‘Sister Library’ as a roaming library aiming to take books to places that do not boast of libraries, and offering space, not just for reading but healing too. Her practice, which is centred around the culture of DIY, self-publishing and guerrilla poster, she believes in the act of ‘doing’ and addresses political and social issues.
Stressing that she had always experienced art as a medium of healing, the artist adds, “Dharavi Art Room is a wonderfully warm family, and we have worked towards building a space where we are allowed to be curious, to make, to question, to dream and so much more in spite of everything that is going on in our lives.”
Currently pursuing a doctoral degree from TISS, Mumbai, the artist says that KT 2077 was refreshing as she witnessed two powerful indigenous curators and artists putting together a brilliant festival. “Such art festivals are crucial for all people to have an opportunity and space to come together and reflect on culture,” she adds.
KT 2077 was led by artistic director Cosmin Costinas (from Para Site, Hong Kong) and Kathmandu based co-curators Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.
Talking about the ‘Sister Library’ which she started when she started reading women exclusively about seven years back, she recalls, “When I started, it was all the books that impacted me and was almost like looking into the mind of the artist. Over the years, it has grown to be so much more. With all the travels and collecting books and independently published works, to starting a radio — ‘Sister Radio’, to a Riso press — ‘Sister Press’ and publishing our newspaper, ‘Sister Times’. The travelling has been extremely enriching. I am forever grateful to the ever-growing community that wants to centre and celebrate women and Women’s works. The work evolves with every interaction and is ever-growing and evolving”
Thami, who grew up in Darjeeling but left home when she was 15-years-old, is in Venice currently, doing a residency at the Ocean Space in collaboration with the Sami pavilion at the Venice Biennale. “I am happy to be here and looking forward to creating work thinking about our relationship with oceans as indigenous peoples.”
Saudha Society of Poetry and Music is hosting a unique initiative to protest the war, the rise of fascism, violence and brutality, writes Prof. Geetha Upadhyaya
Prof. Geetha Upadhyaya
Saudha Society of Poetry and Music, a leading organisation of global arts and music here in the UK, in partnership with a global literary platform La Ninfa Eco, is hosting a unique initiative to protest the war, the rise of fascism, violence and brutality through Arts, Music, Dance, Spoken Word and other art forms.
A series of events in London, Oxford, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and other cities begins at Rich Mix, London on Sunday 24 April 2022 at 5pm when 44 artists from different cultural heritages will present their exquisite creative work of insightful and analytic presentations, well-known musicians, poets, writers, filmmakers, theatre-practitioners, academics, painters and dancers.
Saudha’s Director and Curator of this event, poet Ahmed Kaysher said, ‘The event showcases the impact that violence leaves in an artists’ imaginations. This is actually artists’ responses to the current war between Russia and Ukraine and all forms of violence in the world.
Love, the most powerful of human emotions, the source of all creativity, collaboration, insight, and excellence, has been systematically drained from our lives – our work, teams, and classrooms…reports Asian Lite News
World-renowned researcher and New York Times bestselling author Marcus Buckingham helps us discover where we’re at our best – both at work and in life.
You’ve long been told to “Do what you love”. Sounds simple, but the real challenge is how to do this in a world not set up to help you. Most of us actually don’t know the real truth of what we love – what engages us and makes us thrive – and our workplaces, jobs, schools, even our parents, are focused instead on making us conform. Sadly, no person or system is dedicated to discovering the crucial intersection between what you love to do and how you contribute it to others.
In the eye-opening and uplifting ” Love and Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life “, Buckingham shows you how to break free from this conformity – how to decode your own loves, turn them into their most powerful expression, and do the same for those you lead and those you love.
How can you use love to reveal your unique gifts? How can you pinpoint what makes you stand out from anyone else? How can you choose roles in which you’ll excel?
“Love and Work” unlocks answers to these questions and others, so you can:
Choose the right role on the team
Describe yourself compellingly in job interviews
Mould your existing role so that it calls upon the very best of you
Position yourself as a leader in such a way that your followers quickly come to trust in you
Make lasting change for your team, your company, your family, or your students
Love, the most powerful of human emotions, the source of all creativity, collaboration, insight, and excellence, has been systematically drained from our lives – our work, teams, and classrooms.
It’s time we brought love back in.
“Love and Work” shows you how.
For over twenty-five years, Marcus Buckingham has been the world’s leading researcher on strengths and human performance, as well as an entrepreneur, founding the strengths-based leadership development firm The Marcus Buckingham Company.
He began his career at Gallup and was the co-creator, with Donald O. Clifton, of StrengthsFinder. He is the New York Times bestselling author or co-author of 10 books, including “First, Break All the Rules”, “Now, Discover Your Strengths”, “StandOut 2.0”, and “Nine Lies About Work”. He is currently Head of People + Performance Research at the ADP Research Institute.
“I also talk about risk — which is easier said than done, because while unicorns sound fantastic in the news, not every start up is a unicorn, and many of us, forget starting up, are scared to even get out of the comfort zone in our day to day jobs,” she added…writes VISHNU MAKHIJANI
We live in a difficult world, easily weighed down by judgement and insecurities, where no one has perfect lives. The key lies in getting past our internal and external limitations, says Radhika Gupta, the dynamic MD & CEO of Edelweiss MF, the youngest and only female CEO in India’s financial services sector, who records her journey in an inspiring book titled ‘Limitless: The Power of Unlocking Your True Potential’ (Hachette).
“We live in a difficult world, where it is easy to be weighed down by judgement and insecurities. People think portfolios are what they see on Twitter, marriages on Insta, and businesses on Excel. The reality is — no one has perfect lives,” Gupta told in an interview.
“We all get rejected, we all feel lost, we have days where we hate what we do and days where we hate how we look. We feel held back sometimes by gender, by socio-economic background, or whatever else makes us different. How do we get past these limitations…internal and external, and live the maximum version of ourselves, is what I focus on in the book,” she added.
It’s been quite a roller coaster for Gupta.
In 2005, after being rejected by seven consulting firms back-to-back-during campus placements at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), where she was a student at the Wharton School, she tried to jump off the 19th floor of a building.
“I was a 21-year-old college student then and didn’t know how to handle being told ‘no’. Thankfully, my then classmate and now husband Nalin (came to my rescue (something he still does in many situations) and, as it happens with most of us, my life turned out fairly fine,” Gupta writes in the book.
She began her career at McKinsey, and then cut her teeth as an analyst on Wall Street in the mid-2000s at a boutique hedge fund called AQR Capital Management. In 2009, she moved back to India to start her own asset management company with two of her UPenn classmates. It was named Forefront Capital Management and later sold to Edilweiss Financial Services “and on most days, I wake up thinking I have the best job on earth”, she writes.
Comparison and risk form two important themes in the book, which is liberally peppered with her own experiences and with those of others.
“Comparison is inevitable, it starts from childhood, from your parent’s comparing you to what I call ‘Sharmaji ka beta’ to you comparing yourself to your classmate. I share my own struggles with comparison, as a naturally competitive person, and how to think about it in a more healthy way,” Gupta said during the interview.
“I also talk about risk — which is easier said than done, because while unicorns sound fantastic in the news, not every start up is a unicorn, and many of us, forget starting up, are scared to even get out of the comfort zone in our day to day jobs,” she added.
To this end, Gupta offers a seven-step approach:
Kicking The S**T Out Of Rejection
Taking Risks, Understanding SIPS (Small is Powerful) And Surviving Blips
The Golden AAA — Ambition, Awareness, Asking
Fresh Air And Unaccustomed Earth
TGIF- Thank God I’m Flawed
Hard Work x A Little Help
Choose Your Sky, Learn To Fly.
The idea of writing the book, Gupta said, was a “contradiction”.
“I always wanted to write it, but never thought it would happen. I have enjoyed writing since a young age, it’s one of the few hobbies I have had, but always believed a book is something I would come to much later in life. The Covid induced lockdown and lack of travel changed that, and when Hachette came to me with the idea, after the initial resistance, I said why not. I had also been getting feedback on my social handles, where I have been micro-blogging, to do a long form book,” Gupta explained.
She thoroughly enjoyed the journey of putting “Limitless” together.
“I spent time thinking about the themes I wanted to talk about a lot, the issues I had grappled with… and then thinking through the stories I wanted to share, both from my life and those around me. This is not an autobiography, where things are sort of chronological, so the outlining process was important.
“My hope is the stories are authentic and honest, simple and yet meaningful. I spent about six months thinking through the outline, and then another six writing, thinking through the words, the tone. Since my weekdays are very full with my day job, ‘Limitless’ was essentially a weekend project. And then there was time on edits, versions, and more versions. As I say… it’s a real labour of love,” Gupta maintained.
Harkening to the Bollywood movie “Dangal”, in which the young wrestler Geeta’s father (played by Aamir Khan) objects to her coach attempting to change her style and finally tells his daughter, “Attack karke khel” (play in attack mode), Gupta writes: “My story is the same.”
“I have found self-confidence – which had wandered off somewhere in a battle of comparisons and a quest for perfection – by embracing my uniqueness, and I have learnt that I am at my best when I play my game my own way, in attack mode. It’s a liberating feeling, to say the least.
“Each of us has an open sky of opportunities; we can fly anywhere we choose to and at the speed we want, because we are all equipped with wings. Those wings may be of different colours, some a little bigger and some slightly smaller than those of the person next to us. They may be a little imperfect, but nonetheless they are wings to help us soar. If there is one thing I hope this book leaves you with, it is to look past your challenges – internal, external, whatever they may be – and trust in your wings. If you do, you will realise just how far you can fly…because your potential to soar is truly limitless,” Gupta concludes the book.
